[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/EW-02-09-12-Ocean-Acidification.mp3|titles=EW 02-09-12 Ocean Acidification]
Earth is called “the blue planet” because oceans cover more than 70% of its surface. Oceans affect weather and temperature and are home to a diversity of marine life.
While looking out at the sea from the shoreline or a ship deck, it can seem vast and resilient. But this is an illusion. Oceans are vulnerable to global change, and already suffering serious impacts.
A quarter of carbon emissions emitted from fossil fuels are absorbed by the ocean. As a result, since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the chemistry of sea water has been transformed, with acidity rising by 30%.
This is bad news for ocean life, particularly shell fish, coral, and other organisms that need calcium carbonate to form their shells and skeletons. Increasing acidity reduces the availability of this mineral, slowing growth and weakening shells.
John Guinotte of the Marine Conservation Institute describes what we can expect if carbon emissions are not curbed…
“We’ve seen already .1 unit decrease in pH, which doesn’t sound like a whole lot,” says Guinotte. “But the projections that we are looking at now – where CO2 is headed by the end of the century – we’re likely going to see another .3 to .4 unit decrease in pH, which roughly equates to 100-150% increase in ocean acidification, which is a huge amount.”
Rising ocean acidity is more dire than simply losing lobster and mussels from our dinner menu. It threatens the stability of the ocean’s entire food web.
Curbing carbon emission is the only real solution. Embracing marine reserves—national parks for the sea—and less destructive fishing practices would help make sea life more resilient to the many pressures they face.
Photo, taken on August 13, 2004 using a Sony DSC-P8, courtesy of Anjum Malkana via Flickr.
Web Extra
John Guinotte of the Marine Conservation Institute discusses how increased CO2 levels will likely jeopardize the health of marine species even further…
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Guinotte_extra.mp3|titles=Guinotte_extra]